Advice on double batch

[kevbrandt]

I think I have this figured out but wanted a sounding board in case I'm missing something.
Here's the situation:

10 gallon batch​

33lb Grain Bill​

10 Gallon Mash Tun​

15 Gallon e Kettle​

I'm using BeerSmith and BrewFather to put this together (comparing and contrast purposes). They call for 16 g to hit my targets.
My process is as follows:

Mash in with water volume calculations from BS or BF for 60 minutes (or so).​

Drain,​

Mash out with the remaining sparge water.​

Move entire volume to Kettle to begin boil.​

​

So with all of the above in mind... BeerSmith asks for a bit over 10 gallons of strike water with smaller rinses. Obviously that would be a disaster. BrewFather suggests around 7.5 gallons of strike water. But I feel like that would give me a really dry mash.

So now for the actual question: My current plan is to mill my grain and try to get as uniform a mix of of the grain bill (16.5lbs) as possible in to two separate batches. I would put the first 5-ish gallon batch in a bucket or some container until the 2nd 5 gallon batch is complete. Once the 2nd is done I would then boil the 2 batches of wort together with the original 10 gallon batch hop schedule. Finally, I would move this all to my 14 gallon fermenter. Any concerns here? And, yes, I realize I need a bigger Mash Tun for these types of bigger beers.

This also brings up a random thought, if the above is possible, if one were to stick to the same water to grain ratio, could someone mash separate grains then combine them together? I have a feeling combining them post-boil would give a different flavor than having them boil together (almost like blending whiskey).

Thanks!!

 

[Mr. Vern]

I would reduce grain bill and use some extract in lieu. Or, two separate mashes into the same BK but that may be time consuming. You can blend wort or beer but I do not see the benefit here. LOTS of winning homebrews have a % of LME/DME I think this is a tool that we should all have in our cupboard.

 

[kevbrandt]

I would reduce grain bill and use some extract in lieu. Or, two separate mashes into the same BK but that may be time consuming. You can blend wort or beer but I do not see the benefit here. LOTS of winning homebrews have a % of LME/DME I think this is a tool that we should all have in our cupboard.

Thanks! Unfortunately I've purchased the grain so I'm kind of stuck with moving forward in some fashion. Your second statement is basically what I'm planning and yeah, its going to add a few hours to my brew day likely. The blending idea was strictly hypothetical, I don't really see any advantage either.

I'll have to look in to adding LME/DME to the wort. I'm bound to run in to this problem again unless I get a bigger MT. Do you have any examples? You've got me curious now.

 

[Mr. Vern]

There are a lot of posts for replacing grain with extract, it will vary based on the recipe/system/efficiencies but there are some general rules of thumb to start with. I am not proficient in recipe writing so I do not want to put my foot in my mouth!

My single kettle RIS takes a few steps, batch sparge for me worked well but still left a lot of sugar behind. I think two mashes is your best bet if you are going to use all grain and maintain efficiency.